Prologue
Equestria: Once the land of beauty, harmony, and life. Now, a land of bloodshed brought forth by fire and greed. Sounds bad when I put it that way, and really, it is just bad. But there’s nothing that can change the past. And even if there was, I’m not entirely sure if I would even change things back to the way they were before. See, this world- This, terribly violent world of anarchy and evil- it’s my home, and it’s all I know. It’s what we all call “normal”, as sad as that might be. That being said, coming from this existence into one with order and “normalcy” just wouldn’t be possible. As much as I would like to say everypony out there has a fondness for kindness and caring for each other, it just isn’t true anymore. The war left a scar not only on the lands of Equestria, but on the psyche of ponies as a whole. Scars might fade over time, but they never go away. Selfless actions are rare, not to mention dangerous. And on top of everything, this is a world where violence is the answer for almost all the problems that pop up. Things like that, thoughts like that- they don’t just go away.
War might never change, but the ponies do. There isn’t a war nowadays, at least not in the normal sense of the word. Instead, it’s a war with life. The struggle to live and survive in this world makes soldiers out of everypony. A soldier of your own army and your own agenda, with morality taking a back seat and anarchy ruling over all. Survival takes center stage. And of course, violence is an unfortunate side effect of survival. The kind of violence in the world now corrupts even the strongest of minds and bodies. That scar I mentioned before is the scar of the wasteland. The scar of a post-war existence, and the scar of hundreds of years of violence. As a result, violence and greed are a mainstay in our so called “society.”
As depressing as that might all sound, it really just is normal now. However, there are still some shining examples of hope in this world. I’ve been lucky enough to find a few through my travels, and it is my hope that by telling our story a spark flickers to life in you and the other ponies around you who might be reading or hearing this. A spark to do the right thing, to be a beacon for us all. The Goddesses know we need more light in these dark times.
Fallout Equestria: Aether
